Tampa Bay Rays vs Oakland Athletics Prediction, Pick and Preview, May 3 (5/3): MLB

Credit: photo by D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

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Preview

The Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays willo play the 2nd game of the series at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on Tuesday night. The Rays won the first of the series 6-1. Franco and Randy Arozarena hit consecutive RBI singles in the third against Daulton Jefferies (1-4), and Mike Zunino's base hit the next inning brought in another Rays run. Manuel Margot added an RBI double in the fifth.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays get here with a 13-10 record and have won their 4 of their last 6 games. The team is averaging 4.17 runs while allowing 4.09 runs per game. Wander Franco leads the team, batting for a .322 avg with 4 home runs and 13 RBI.

Rasmussen (2-1) allowed one run and one hit, struck out three and walked one in five sharp innings.

Probable Pitcher:

Ryan Yarbrough (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rays in the 2nd game of the series. Yarbrough will be making his 2022 debut for the Rays, as he was added to the injured list in the first week of the season when he experienced tightness in his left groin during a pre-start bullpen session. He's since made two rehab starts at Triple-A Durham, covering 2.2 innings and throwing 59 pitches in his most recent outing April 28. Yarbrough will most likely be capped at around 70-to-80 pitches Tuesday.

Oakland Athletics

The Athletics get here with a 10-13 record and have lost 4 games in a row. The team is averaging 3.70 runs per game and allowing 4.04 runs. Sheldon Neuse is batting for .310 AVG. Sean Murphy leads with 14 RBI and 4 home runs.

Cole Irvin has 2 wins already and he's pitching for a 2.93 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

Probable Pitcher:  Paul Blackburn (3-0, 1.35 ERA)

Blackburn will be on the mound in the 2nd game of the series for the Athletics. Blackburn earned the win over San Francisco on Wednesday, tossing five scoreless innings during which he allowed three hits and one walk while striking out four. In his last start against the Rays he threw 5 scoreless innings and struck out 7 batters.

BETTING TRENDS

Tampa Bay are 8-4 SU in their last 12 games.

Tampa Bay are 3-6 SU in their last 9 games against Oakland.

Oakland are 1-5 SU in their last 6 games.

The total has gone OVER in 4 of Oakland's last 5 games against Tampa Bay.

Prediction

The Athletics couldn't do much against Rassmusen in the first game, they scored only one run and 2 hits in the whole game but they will count with their best pitcher Blackburn for this game who held the Rays to no runs in 5 innings. It's uncertain how Yarbrough will be in his return so I'd go with the under on this one.

PICK: Under 7  (-110)

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